Monthly Archives: March 2015

This is the next post in a series of interviews with writers who have had their first films, web series, television assignment, etc. make it to the big or small or computer screen. It is an effort to find out what their journey was to their initial success.

First, a word from our sponsors. Ever wonder what a reader for a contest or agency thinks when he reads your screenplay? Check out my new e-book published on Amazon: Rantings and Ravings of a Screenplay Reader, including my series of essays, What I Learned Reading for Contests This Year, and my film reviews of 2013. Only $2.99. http://ow.ly/xN31r

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Screenwriters hear it all the time. I probably write in the margins at least a couple dozen times in my client’s scripts. So what does that mean, exactly? Film and television are visual mediums. Only things that can be seen or heard should be written in a spec script. This is why it is often difficult for a novelist to write screenplays. Novels have lots of flowery prose that will paint gloriously vivid pictures in the reader’s mind’s eye. This does not translate well into screenwriting. In a script you must show us what your character is thinking. The audience needs to see or hear it

Often times you’ll notice a character’s thoughts in the action lines of a shooting scripts. Shooting scripts are mostly what you’ll find online. But in spec scripts, they shouldn’t be there. We can’t see thoughts, and unless it’s a voice over, we can’t hear…

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You’ve read a novel, loved it, and heard there’s a movie in the works. There’s some cheering you do before circling the film’s release date on the calendar. As the credits roll you notice there’s a screenwriter AND the novel’s writer. Two different people? What gives? Why didn’t the novelist write the screenplay? Why pay extra for another version when one writer is as good as any another?

In a word, specialization. Like a mason doesn’t install windows, a brain surgeon doesn’t do gastric bypasses, and a software programmer doesn’t assemble computers, novelists don’t often write screenplays. Sure, there can be some crossover and salsa dancers could learn how to tap dance while a baker barbecues your brisket. People can do anything.

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When it came to my Nexus 7 2013, I wanted to have a functioning tablet. I decided since everyone was talking about CyanogenMod and me thinking I’m a tech geek. I wanted to try it out. After rooting my wife’s tablet which she was having a hard time with once Lollipop 5.0.2 updated. After rooting it. It started to work a bit better just her wifi seems a bit glichy.

I wanted to do something different, but I didn’t know it was going to take me a day and become my worst nightmare. CyanogenMod has an app you install on your tablet then a windows software to make it less of a headache to install. Well, I found out that the self-installing program didn’t work. This I should have taken as a sign not to do it and just root mine. Well, I did have to root before I installed because it stated I had the wrong firmware. And yes, I know I’m not supposed to break something that didn’t need fixing.

I used Nexus Root Toolkit v2.0.4 to root my Nexus before I put on CyanogenMod. At this point, I should have stopped. I then used the Cyanogenmod app and desktop software, and it didn’t want to install. Next I then used the Root Toolkit to kind of side load the CyanogenMod ROM well, it didn’t have Google’s services, so I had to install that separately. By this time, I’m like crap it told me to save, save, save. I didn’t save anything.

I then proceeded to boot it up well, the Google services kept coming up with an error, and I couldn’t use the Google Keyboard to type. I had to reboot and format and refresh to manufactory settings. Not the original manufactory settings those I had removed when I didn’t save anything. So, it reset CyanogenMod. After 10 hours of anger cussing and thinking my tablet was a total loss it started to work.

CyanogenMod has a nightly update well I know now that I should never install these updates because every time I do I have to do a manufacture reset. Oh and when you try to login into CyanogenMod account while booting into the system the first time it doesn’t work and gives an error then you have to reset again to get it off the screen.

This was my hell and still is 3 days later as I had all my apps installed and had to reset two times because of the nightly release that didn’t install correctly. I should be writing and not working on this, but my tablet is my writing tool since it allows me to work on my scripts as I rock in my rocking chair.